Shotgun BBQ (Closed)

The food business is not the easiest industry and nor is every one successful. There has been many examples of restaurant that I have seen closing and the most recent one this year is Shotgun BBQ. Soon after my visit in January of this year Shotgun BBQ closed it doors.

I had their all you can eat lunch offer for £25 excluding drinks and service charge. A great deal if you can eat enough meat to make your money worth.

To start we had Gombo (okra with smoked pork belly) and  boiled peanut dip. Those with nut allergies the restaurant swap the boiled peanut dip for devil egg. I thought the devil egg was a better option than the boiled peanut dip.

Following by the mains where it started with a trip to the kitchen. We got to visit the chef who then filled our plates with meat. There was choice of Smoked chicken BBQ Rub, USDA brisket, Suckling pig and Pork Belly.

Looking at the suckling pig make you think this is worth it even if I don’t go for a second round.

I found the beef brisket on the dry side and it was my least favourite meat we tried. The chicken was as I expected to be dry being the chicken breast and I have a preference of the more succulent part of the chicken. My favourite would be the suckling pig that was served like pulled pork mixed in a spicy seasoning. Follow by the belly pork which was still moist.

The meat came with unlimited helping of pickles, raw onions and bun.

We also got four sides to go with the meat including cornbread which according to the menu should had come as a starter.

The meal finished with a banana pudding for dessert which was not exciting. A bit of fresh bananas, cream, cake and banana purée.

The restaurant did felt a bit on the dull side. The curtain which was there to keep the place warm when the door open but it did not help the place. I still remember reaching the front door thinking they looked closed and they are now truly closed. Here is a video of the memories of my trip to Shotgun BBQ.

Roast Restaurant

Have you missed me? I know it has been a while since my last post. I can’t believe we are already reaching the end of February and finally do I have time to sit down and write my first blog for 2017.

To start with 2017, I will share my visit to Roast restaurant at the beginning of this year. The restaurant is located near London Bridge station and within one of London famous Borough Market. It has a lovely  view over Borough Market. I was there for Sunday brunch so the market was closed but I can imagine having  lunch watching over the stalls when it is open.

Roast restaurant serves British cuisine and is opened most of the day serving breakfast to dinner. On Sunday the restaurant only serves a market menu consisting three courses for £37.50 which includes a fabulous Sunday roast.

From the market menu we had for starter the baked charcoal cheddar souffle with oyster mushrooms and chives. The souffle was light and fluffy. The dish had a taste of cheddar with a hint of mushroom.

For mains, we regret not ordering the roast beef with Yokrshire pudding. Instead we ordered the pork belly with bramley apple sauce. It was a chunky piece of pork belly. If we had the choice we could had skip the starter with such a large piece of meat.

A petite lady like me probably would only need half the size and a welcome half the price!

If you are not a big meat fan than the market menu also offer fish. We had the Cornish hake with clams that day. The fish was beautifully cooked and it was no doubt a lighter dish compared to the pork belly.

All mains on the market menu comes served with trimmings consisting of carrots, greens and roast potatos. The dishes would not be the same with these happy trimmings. Each one is served in a separate bowl which gives that family Sunday roast setting.

Pudding we had a warm apple crumble served with custard. A lovely British classic British dessert that bring back many primary school memories. 

For a sweeter pudding the chocolate and peanut butter mousse with honeycromb ice cream is a good choice. Although I do love apple crumbles and custard, I am having a bit of a sweet tooth lately that the mousse won.

If you prefer not to have a Sunday roast or a three courses than there is a small selection of starters and mains that you can order separates. This included a classic British dish, Fish and Chips (£18.50). We had a beautifully fried haddock in beer battered coating. The fish was moist under the crispy battered.

The Roast restaurant is a nice casual place which is suitable for celebrating a special occasion. They also have a big round table for those family gathering. Although it has a slight causal feel it still a fairly pricey place to dine. For the majority of us this would not be your every day dining.

(Not sponsored. Menu and prices are correct at the time of dining.)

Roast restaurant
The Floral Hall,
Borough Market,
Stoney Street,
London,
SE1 1TL,
UK

http://www.roast-restaurant.com

The Waffle House (St Albans)

I am late with this post having been away from London and returning back during the busy festive season. I finally get to sit down and write this post of The Waffle House when I visited St Albans in September this year.

It is a nice place in the warm summer season where there is outdoor seating beside the river. Although when we visit the weather in the September was cooler we were lucky to still get some warm temperature while the sun was shining in the sky.

As the name The Waffle House suggest the restaurant specialise in waffle. There is no surprise that the menu will consist of a selection of sweet and savoury waffles.

From the range of savoury waffles we tried the Chilli Con Carne (£10.45) – Minced beef cooked with peppers and kidney beans in a spicy tomato sauce, served with sour cream, grated cheddar & tortillas.

From the Sweet waffles we ordered Banoffee (£6.25) – Sliced banana with toffee sauce and sprinkled with flaked chocolate

There is also special waffle of the day and on the day we visited it was fresh strawberries with vanilla ice cream made in the local area.

The Waffle House is one of the place you should consider visiting when you are in St Albans. I recommend that you come early especially in the Summer season as you will find a queue.

The Waffle House
Kingsbury Watermill
St Michael’s Street
St Albans
Hertfordshire
AL3 4SJ

http://www.wafflehouse.co.uk

Hatchetts Restaurant

Hatchetts is a bar and restaurants in Mayfair Shepherd Market which is a few minutes walk from Green Park tube station. The bar is located upstairs with the main restaurant downstairs.

Although, being in the heart of Mayfair, this place is casual. It does not have a grand feeling to the place. and instead the decor was like an old market stable look.

The menu at Hatchetts restaurant is based on modern British food using British ingredients. One page covered all the starters, mains and dessert.

For starters I begun with the Celeriac “Risotto” Braised Hereford Snails, Hedgerow Garlic (£7.50). The celeriac did resemble risotto and worked well with the snails. Although the dish was full of wonderful flavour of garlic and butter, I felt it was slightly on the salty side.

The Devonshire Crab & Nectarine Salad, Brown Crab Mayo, Cucumber, Samphire & Borage (£11.50) was a refreshing starter that was like a salad. The combination was interesting with sliced apples and crab meat.

The mains are split in to two sections, from the grills and from the sea. I choice a main from the sea – Chicken Glazed Cod, Steamed Cockles & Clams, Seaweed Jelly & Crispy Sea Shore Findings (£13.50). The presentation of this dish was impressive and reminded me of the sea-shore.

I found the fish over-cooked but is this how the texture of this dish was intended to be, as it was described as chicken glazed cod. If it was, than it was succeeded, as the cod indeed had the meaty texture of a chicken breast. However, I prefer my fish to be a silky and moist in texture which this cod did not have. The fish itself did not have much flavour, which balance out well with the other ingredients on the plate that was more seasoned.

The crispy sea-shore findings I found the texture was on the tough side. I was expecting that it would be crunchy like biting in to crisps or tempura.

From the grills there are a variety of meat dishes and my favourite was the 12oz Shorthorn Ribeye on the Bone with Lyonaisse Potatoes & Bone Marrow Gravy (£24). This dish was full of flavour and the Lyonaisse potatoes compliment the steak.

Another beef dish on the menu was the 8oz Ballindalloch Fillet Steak, Pan Haggerty & Scottish Girolles. Friends found this slightly on the salty side otherwise every thing else was nicely executed.

Slow Braised then Charred Tudge’s Pork Belly, Choucroute & Apples (£16) came with a generous portion of meaty pork belly that had a crispy skin. I did find the meat was on the dry side. But the main thing that did let this dish down was the bedding that the pork belly sat on which to us tasted burnt.

We completed our meal sharing the dessert which I felt was the least interesting section of the menu. Usually the dessert menu is the one that captures me the most and the most exciting part of a three course meal.

The Dark Chocolate Marquis with Milk Chocolate Mousse, Cherry Glaze & Cherry Sorbet (£7) will please those who like their chocolate. This was a chocolatie dessert with the cherry sorbet making a good partner on the plate. The sorbet helped balanced out the dark chocolate marquis.

Buttermilk Pudding & Poached Rhubarb with Rhubarb & Hisbiscus Sorbet (£7) was the dessert that I was least keen. The poached rhubarb was hidden in the buttermilk pudding, but it needed a knife and fork to cut through the rhubarb. Unlike the chocolate dessert this had more of a tangy flavour.

Overall, the presentation of each dish was beautiful and they were good decent portion size for the price. But I did felt some of the dishes could had been better executed.

(Not Sponsored. Menu and prices correct at the time of visit)

Hatchetts restaurant
No. 5 White Horse street,
London,
W1J 7LQ,
UK

http://www.hatchetts.london

34 Mayfair – Sunday brunch

The restaurant has an old classic feel that is grand but casual at the same time. We were seated near the front entrance at one of the leather couch seats.

Once seated we were served a selection of breads and flat breads. These were not actually complimentary because there was a £2 cover charge added to our bill.

There is a range of dishes on the brunch menu including waffles and pancakes. However, I was more attracted to their savoury dishes.

I ordered the Salt beef hash which comes with double fried egg and mustard sauce (£13.50). This was not a very heavy dish and was just right for brunch. I was surprised that the mustard sauce was not creamy or as strong as I thought it would be in taste. It was a nice compliment to the beef hash and egg. My only criticism would that some of the dish had the look that they had been sitting around for some time before getting served.

As it was Sunday, 34 Mayfair offers a Sunday roast which is  slices of roast beef served with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and vegetable (£24.50). This was a posh roast with the vegetable served separately and as did the two different sauces that came with it.

It was a nice place to have brunch in such a classic atmosphere. You can tell the restaurant has been around for some time as the paint on the plates have started to fade.

The service at 34 Mayfair were as you expect from such a classy place and you would not want to expect any thing less with the price you pay and cover charge that come with the bill.

(Not Sponsored. Menu and prices correct at the time of visit)

34 Mayfair
34 Grosvenor Square,
London,
W1K 2HD,
UK

http://www.34-restaurant.co.uk